Govt By Decree In Brazil

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31863, 16 December 1968, Page 17

Govt By Decree In Brazil

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) RIO DE J ANEIRO, Dec. 15. A wave of arrests of top Brazilian figures, including the former President (Mr Juscelino Kubitschek), was reported yesterday after the Government announced sweeping new powers to counter alleged mounting subversion.

Informed sources reporting the arrests, said Mr Carols Lacerda, former Governor of Guanabara State—which includes Rio de Janeiro—was among those detained. President Arthur da Costa de Silva, on Friday night, put the Congress in recess indefinitely, and announced sweeping new powers, under which he can rule by decree. The Government's move came after talks between the President and key military and civilian Ministers over Thursday’s refusal by the Chamber of Deputies to allow an opposition member, Mr Marcio Moreira Alves, to stand trial on charges of insulting the armed forces. Political police made several swoops last night. Widespread tension gripped Rio and other towns before the “institutional act” recessing Congress was read over the nation’s radio and television. Under the new powers the President can rule by decree, intervene in State affairs re-

cessing State legislatures and municipal assemblies, and suspend political rights for 10 years, with loss of mandate in the case of Federal and State deputies. The Justice Minister, Mr Luis Antonio da Gama e Silva, announced in a broadcast last night that the powers—similar to those used under the late President Humberto Castello Branco—also gave the President power to remove, transfer or retire public officials and Army, Navy and Air Force officers, and seize property or riches illegally acquired in public office. The major morning newspapers, the “Jornal do Brasil” and the opposition "Correio da Manha,” showed signs of censorship. The “Jornal do Brasil” carried small advertisements or photographs where editorials and news usually appear.